When it comes to branding, there’s one questions you MUST be able to answer every single day: How do you stand out from the Herd?
In order to do that effectively, you need to know, specifically who’s IN there herd. In other words, who are your primary competitors? Don’t just have an idea – invest the time to get to know at least the top five or six as well as you can.

Next, what do you offer that they don’t? It can be a tangible product or service, or it can be an intangible about the way you conduct business or create relationships. Target and Tiffany both sell jewelry, for instance, but they have very different customers and the ways they articulate their brands are as different as night and day, obviously. In reality, neither one is better – they just have different “best customers” and different brands. BOTH are very successful.

So decide for yourself where YOUR brand stands. Who is YOUR ideal customer or best client? Be as specific as you can: age, gender, education level, income level. Don’t be vague here – even though “everyone” might BE your customer, everyone is not your BEST customer. And if you stick with the idea of “everyone,” you just might end up working with no one.

Once you have an idea of who your herd is, what they look and sound like, and who the customers are, you can move into your own unique brilliance as a company, an expert, and a brand. And you can BEGIN to know how to articulate all of this in order to 'capture the mindshare' AND the marketshare.

Until next time, Libby Gill
Branding Expert, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker
PS:To support you all to create your brand -- and branded website as effectively as possible so you will STAND out in that herd, On March 9th, I will hold a no-cost 45-minute webinar called “The 3 Biggest Mistakes Small Businesses Make with Their Website.” This will be filled with vital information to help you give your website a wow makeover that delivers results, because like it or not, the website is the hub of your brand – at least online. Here’s the link to register: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/744065334